Need for Speed online

I read recently that in the ‘Browser Wars’, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer’s share has dipped below 50% of all users (on all devices, globally). Lest we forget, in 2004, IE’s share was 95%. Firefox was the first real challenger to IE and continues to gain ground, but the big winner is Google Chrome, which positions itself as a new, fast browser.

‘New’ is a familiar advertising copy word which has been proven to be effective (after all, new must be ‘improved’…). But what about ‘fast’? The car manufacturers aren’t allowed to sell ‘speed’ any more but browser makers still can.

Google announced last […]

2012-04-06T10:18:38+00:00December 29th, 2011|Trends|1 Comment
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Email marketing: timeless classic or just horribly old-fashioned?

I recently chaired the Econsultancy Client Roundtable for email marketing specialists. Over an afternoon in London, we discussed email marketing – trends, challenges and best practice. Attendees were people who know; they do this stuff every day for major corporations and charities.

The discussion was very stimulating and wide-ranging.

The whole session was held under ‘Chatham House Rules’; so I won’t associate specific comments with individuals.

2011-09-02T13:28:15+00:00May 24th, 2011|Email marketing|11 Comments
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Is SEO the new spin?

We all know digital has disrupted everything in marketing: Advertising, Direct, Promotions, Design and yes, even PR.

Of course journalists have always had space to fill and demanding editors to appease. In this digital age, they are, as ever, under constant pressure to come up with interesting content which people want to read and which sells magazines/ newspapers/ TV advertising. The ‘Digital Revolution’ hasn’t changed this.
But digital has, nevertheless, changed PR. Today, pretty much all journalism appears somewhere online. Not all appears in print. And people are reading the online stuff! PR agencies report that their clients […]
2011-09-01T09:49:03+00:00March 30th, 2011|SEO|6 Comments
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Integrated solutions need integrated knowledge

Seems like everyone’s talking about integration of digital platforms at the moment. However in my experience, far fewer people are actually doing it. We still have Search specialists, Social Media specialists and Mobile specialists. They’re not talking to each other enough. These silos exist both within client marketing departments and in the agency world.
But the winds of change are […]
2011-09-02T13:35:20+00:00February 5th, 2011|Agencies, Integration|3 Comments
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Smart(phone) marketing

Cell phone (US). Handy (Germany). Mobile phone (UK).  Mobile device? (Global).

Next time you leave your house, apartment, factory, college or office, take a look at the people on the street. Many of them will be talking. But not many to each other. They may also be reading. But not newspapers. Or typing. But not on giant PC keyboards. Aargh! Quick: better check your smartphone is safely in your inside pocket and, crucially, switched on. Breathe. Calm. It’s OK: you’re connected to the global cellular/mobile internet life support system. Phew.

How these shiny gadgets have come to dominate our lives. But do they […]

2011-09-02T13:31:13+00:00January 16th, 2011|Mobile|8 Comments
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Bumbling politicians serve up digital dog’s dinner

“The Law is an Ass” says Mr. Bumble in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Yes, even here in Good Old Blighty, the oldest democracy in the world (err…sorry Iceland, Greece, Isle of Man, America, NZ +++), we sometimes get it badly wrong: the upshot being that we end up with laws that are ridiculous, unenforceable, dangerous or all of these. One such is the new UK Digital Economy Act (DEA). The Act was rushed through by the last UK […]

2011-09-02T13:31:57+00:00July 25th, 2010|General, Trends|13 Comments
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Changing Times. But will we pay?

© 1979 Pink Floyd Music Ltd

Today, we find a place to rent or a house to buy, we book a holiday and stay in touch with our friends using different technologies from those our parents relied on 25 years ago. We all know the internet has changed the world, both economically […]

2011-09-02T13:33:15+00:00June 14th, 2010|Trends|6 Comments
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Getting the most out of digital agency relationships

(An edited version of this post first appeared on www.aprais.com.
Aprais is a global business relationship management consultancy.)

For most people working in marketing, the ideal client/ agency relationship is a healthy one, based on mutual respect and perceived equality: i.e. a true partnership. However we all know “all good things must come to an end” and with agency-client relationships, this sometimes happens prematurely.

So what about digital? Well because digital is still relatively new, and fast-changing, the picture is fragmented. And because digital is growing so fast in […]

2011-09-02T13:33:49+00:00April 25th, 2010|Agencies|3 Comments
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